“They’re big, comfortable trucks you can sit in and drive all day,” he said. “They’re new trucks, every two or three years, so it’s not going to be broke down on you all the time.”

And these are the companies that hire his graduates, because they carry enough insurance to hire entry-level drivers, he said.

“They’re knocking down the doors for our students,” Tanksley said. “There is zero unemployment in the truck driving industry for people willing to be gone a little bit. Most have six to 10 offers before they graduate. In the first year they typically make $40,000 with a full benefits package.”

While new drivers won’t be home every night, they usually will get home at least once a week — “more than they used to,” Tanksley said.

These are all reasons the career attracts more women than it traditionally did.

Katlaw, near Austell’s Intermodal Terminal and Thornton Road, teaches women and men in three weeks to pass their commercial driver’s license test.

“The females are a lot of times better than the males are,” said Dave Belmont of Douglasville, a career adviser at Katlaw.

Sometimes a husband and wife decide to drive as a team, some after retiring from other careers, he said. They plan stops... Continue reading...

Testimonial from Bill Collions, IDTS

Testimonial from Joey Hogan, Covenant Transport

Thank you CVTA! I have been blessed over the past 16 years to be part of many great associations that are the heartbeat of the trucking industry. This past week was my first time at a CVTA event and I can't tell you how impressed I was with the passion and professionalism you all possess for training our future drivers. As an employer of 1260 students in 2013, I want you to know how much I appreciate the dedication you all have to training the future drivers of America.

I know we are all facing more and more regulations from the federal and state governments and I committed to Don at the conference that I will make any contacts or send any letters from Covenant to our officials that the CVTA feels would be beneficial. Thank you again for what you've done for Covenant but importantly what you do for the industry as a whole.